a study of technology adoption and usage behaviour for students in higher education in institutes of...
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A STUDY OF TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND USAGE BEHAVIOUR FOR STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY
Ms. Rosaleen McGough - Institute of Technology TraleeMr. Andrew Shields - Institute of Technology Tralee
Aims of the research
■ To analyse student behaviour with technology■ To analyse the impact of technology in an academic setting■ To determine factors that influence student usage of technology■ To establish the difficulties regarding the use of technology■ To determine predictive behaviours through data mining
Technology Enhanced Learning
■ Technology has become one of the biggest drivers in industry today■ Educational Institutes must prepare students to be technologically
advanced for the workplace■ Technology use in the classroom can help increase engagement but
can also be a hindrance■ More colleges are providing accredited online courses■ It is important that educators do not presume that students who use
technology for social purposes will be as comfortable with technology in an academic setting
Research Methodology
■ Based on previous research carried out in the University of Edinburg ‘A Survey of Undergraduate Technology Use and Attitudes’ (2011)
■ An online survey was used as the data collection method, using the survey from the previous research as a framework
■ 169 responses were received, just over 5% of the student population of 3,153 students from across all years of study including post graduates.
The Sample
■ The highest rate of respondents came from fourth year students 28%■ The largest age group was 18-22 (46%)■ The distribution of gender was Males 53% and Females 47%■ Over 55% of responses came from students studying in the Computing
department and Creative Media and Information Technology department■ 86% of students who responded were Irish, 8% EU students and 6%
International students (non EU)
*results show in all charts are based on the overall sample, although some students did not provide responses to all the questions
Smartphone and laptop ownership is high amongst students
Smartphone
Tablet
Kindle
Laptop
PC
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Student Device Ownership
Almost 40% of students spend over 5 hours a day online
Less than 1 hour 1-2 hours 3-4 hours 5 hours +0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
% Students time spent online
%
Daily use of social media channels
Google +
YouTube
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Social Media Daily usage
Student confidence with the use of ICT in college is positive overall
Very Confident
Enjoy the challenge
A little apprehensive
Very apprehensive
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Students confidence in the ability to the use of ICT
Students have found ICT helpful in their studies
Perception of helpfulness of ICT in studies
Very helpful Helpful Not helpful Hindrance0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Perception of Helpfulness of ICT in studies
%
Technical competences are positively reported
Backup your work Keep antivirus updated Keep computer’s OS updated0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Reported technical competences%
Overall software competences is positive
I do this type of task alone
I would need some help to do this type of task
I have never don’t this type of task alone
Don’t Know/Unsure
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Software competences of students
Regular access to web facilities is low with the exception of Student Email
Blackboard My Docs Student Email Library Catalogue0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Frequency of accessing Web facilities
%
How students are using the Internet
Acad
emic a
rticles
foun
d open
ly on th
e Inte
rnet
Faceb
ok for
acad
emic w
ork re
lated
purpose
s
Instan
t mess
enge
r for c
onver
sation
s rela
ting t
o acad
emic w
ork
Twitte
r for a
cadem
ic work
relat
ed pu
rposes
Wiki for
acad
emic w
ork re
lated
purpose
s0
10203040506070
Frequency of accessing Internet mediums for academic purposes
%
Online learning
No Yes0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Percentage of students who have taken a class online
%
No Not sure Yes0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Does online learning offer the same value as in-class learning
%
Students preference for more modules offered online
No Not sure Yes0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
% of student preferences
%
Awareness of the college referencing policy is high
No Not sure Yes0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
% Awareness of the college referencing policy
%
Will the internet cause a rise in plagiarism
No
Not sure
Yes
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
% Students perceptions
Technology in the classroom
No Yes0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
% students perceptions of engage-ment in subjects through technology
%
No Sometimes Yes0
10
20
30
40
50
60
% of students perceptions on distrac-tion of digital devices in the class-
room
%
Data mining to predict student behaviour■ Data mining was employed to predict behaviour outcomes based on
age, gender, year of study and field of study■ The aim was to identify and profile students who may not be aware of
the college referencing policy and who do not access facilities such as Blackboard on a daily basis.
■ Decision Trees using the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) method were used
Conclusions
■ Based on the survey results and data mining methods it is important for educational institutes to recognise that not all students are comfortable and competent with ICT
■ Supports must be in place to assist students who struggle with ICT■ Educators must enforce rules regarding BYOD in the classroom■ Institutions must realise that technology is another medium which can
enhance learning when used appropriately
■ Results can help institutions plan for investment in technology■ Further research must be carried out prior to investment in online
learning■ Educators must explore the mediums that help to engage students in
subject material■ Data mining can help to extract knowledge which can then be turned
into meaningful information to be used in strategic planning
Thank you for your timeQ&A
[email protected]@staff.ittralee.ie